Boom and rudder assembly



Sept. 29, 1953 w LONG BOOM AND RUDDER ASSEMBLY Filed Dec.

INVENTOR WILLIAM LONG Patented Sept. 29, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE,

BOOM AND RUDDER ASSEMBLY William Long, Waldo, Wis. Application December5, 1951, Serial No. 259,928

3 Claims.

This invention appertains to sail boats, and more particularly to anovel rudder construction therefor.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide means forautomatically swinging the rudder post of a boat with respect to thelongitudinal center line plane of the boat as the boom and mainsailswings from one side of the boat to the other, so that the rudder willbe positioned at an angle to the center line of the boat and in asubstantially vertical position, whereby the rudder will not act as adrag on the boat, and whereby the boat can be efficiently steered.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide a flexible endlessbelt or the like extending transversely of the stern of a boat, with theboom connected by a line to one run of the belt and the rudder connectedto the other run of the belt, so that upon the swinging of the boom fromone side of the boat to the other, incident to coming about, the beltwill be moved to cause an automatic moving of the rudder post.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be morespecifically described and claimed and i1: lustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through the stern of a boatequipped with my novel rudder construction, the section being takensubstantially on the line ll of Figure 3, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Figure 2 is a view similiar to Figure 1, but showing the boom on theother side of the boat from Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the stern of a boatequipped with the novel rudder construct-ion.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through thestern of a boat taken substantially on the line 44 of Figure 1, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken on the line 5-5 ofFigure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the novelmounting of the sleeve for the rudder post on the boat.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter Sgenerally indicates a sail boat equipped with my novel rudder II).

In general, the sail boat S can be of a construction now commonly foundand hence will not be described in detail. However, the sail boat Sincludes a hull II, a mast l2 and a boom 13 for carrying a mainsail (notshown). The stern of the hull H is modified to receive my novel rudderconstruction l0 and hence the stern is provided with a V-shaped well [4.Mounted in the well for swinging movement is a guide sleeve 15, whichrotatably supports the post l6 for the rudder. The post is turned forsteering in any desired manner and as shown, the upper end of the postis provided with a tiller H. The hull at the bottom of the well i4 isprovided with a ball socket 18, in which is mounted for turning movementa spherical head or ball I!) formed on the lower end of the guide sleevel5. The guide sleeve I5 is mounted so that the same can swing relativeto the longitudinal center line plane of the boat and in order toprevent other movement of the sleeve, the opposite sides of the head 19are provided with outwardly extending fins 20 which are slidablyreceived in arcuate slots 2| communicating with the opposite sides ofthe socket [8.

From the construction so far, it can be seen that the rudder post Hi canbe turned in the sleeve l5 for steering the boat and that the sleeve 15and consequently the post can swing from one side to the other withrespect to the longitudinal center line plane of the boat.

The upper end of the well I4 is enlarged to provide a chamber 22 whichextends transversely of the stern of the boat and this chamber hasrotatably mounted therein adjacent to its oppo site ends idle pulleys 23and 24. Trained about the idle pulleys is an endless belt 25, or thelike. The lower run of the belt has rigidly fastened thereto a guideplate 26 having an opening 21 through which loosely extends the rudderpost [6. Rigidly fastened to the upper run of the belt 25 is a guide eye28. The guide eye is also preferably slidably mounted on a rigid guiderod 29, which also extends transversely of the boat.

The boom 13 is provided with the usual block or guide pulley 30, aroundwhich is trained a line or sheet 3| for trimming the sail supported bythe boom and mast. One end of the line is firmly fastened to the guideeye 28 and the opposite end of the line is detachably and adjustablyfastened to either one of a pair of cleats 32 mounted on the hull I I onopposite sides thereof. As the boat comes about, the line is changedfrom one cleat to the other, as is wel1 known in sailing.

In use of my improved rudder, and considering.

that the boat is leaning to the left of the vertical (see Figure 1) withthe boom on the left hand side of the boat, the line is exerting a pullon the upper run of the belt 25 at the left and consequently this run ofthe belt is pulled to the left with a corresponding movement to theright of the lower run of the belt. As the belt moves to the right, thesame carries the rudder post therewith and the guide sleeve and therudder post will be moved to a substantially vertical position.

As the boat comes about (see Figure 2), and the boom swings to the otherside of the boat the pull of the line 3| will move the upper run of thebelt 25 to the right and the lower run of the belt to the left and therudder post and its guide sleeve will be moved by this run of the beltto the opposite side of the longitudinal center line of the boat. Hence,the rudder post and its guide sleeve will be automatically swung fromone side of the boat to the other as the boat leans from one side to theother.

Where the rudder post is held at all times at the center line of theboat during the leaning of the beat, it has been found that duringsteering the rudder acts as a drag on the boat and eflicient steeringand maneuvering of the boat is diflicult. With my invention, the rudderpost automatically tends to assume an approximate vertical position, butobviously, it is to be understood that upon the reaching of a certainangle or lean to the vertical with a further leaning of the boat therudder post will be carried therewith and out of a true verticalposition.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or thescope of this invention but what I claim as new is:

1. In a sail boat including a hull, a mast and a boom mounted forswinging movement on the mast; a guide sleeve, means rockably mountingthe sleeve on the stern of the hull for swinging movement on the hullfrom one side of the iongitudinal center line plane of the hull to theother, a rudder post rotatably mounted in the sleeve for swingingmovement with the sleeve, an endless belt mounted transversely oi thehull having an upper movable run and a lower movable run, a line carriedby the outer end of the boom, means securing one end of the line to one4 run of the belt and means operatively connecting the other run of thebelt to the post.

2. In a sail boat including a hull, a mast and a boom mounted on themast for swinging movement; a rudder construction for the hul1 includinga guide sleeve, means mounting the sleeve on the hull for swingingmovement from one side of the longitudinal center line plane of the hullto the other, a rudder post rotatably mounted in the "sleeve, an endlessbelt disposed transversely of the hull including an upper run and 'alower run, means on the hull including spaced idle pulleys supportingthe belt for free traveling movement, a pulley on the boom, a linetrained over the pulley, means securing one end of the line to one runof the belt, means detachably securing the otherend of the line to thehull on one 'side or the other thereof, and means operatively connectingthe post to the other run of the belt for movement therewith.

3. In a boat including a hull, a mast and a boom mounted on the mast forswinging movement a rudder structure comprising a guide sleeve, meansroclrably mounting the sleeve on the stern of the hull for swingingmovement from one side of its longitudinal center iine to the other, arudder post rotatably mounted in the sleeve, an endless belt disposedtransversely of the hull having an upper and a lower run, means on thehull including spaced idle pulleys supporting the belt for freetraveling movement, a pulley on the boom, a line trained about thepulley, a guide eye secured to the upper run of the belt for movementtherewith, a guide arm on the lower run of the belt receiving the rudderpost, a stationary uide secured transversely of the hull and receivingthe guide eye, means securing one end of the line to the guide eye, andmeans detachably and adjustably securing the other end of the line tothe hull on one side of the longitudinal center of the hull.

WILLIAM LONG.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 14,983 Great Britain July 23-, 1901 312,809 Great Britain eNov. 25, 1933

